Fact, Fiction and the Spark of Genius

With the opening sounds of HBO's "Phil Spector"—"Unchained Melody" sung by the Righteous Brothers—we have a pretty good idea of the treatment the film is likely to accord its subject, the producer-songwriter who transformed the music industry and who is now doing 19 years to life on a conviction of murder. The opening setting is ominous—a dark middle of the night; the producer, getting into his chauffeured car, followed by a hesitant woman—but there, soaring...